At the top of one wall she stenciled， the world always makes way for the dreamer.

在一堵墻的頂部，她印上了這樣一句話： 世界總是為夢(mèng)想者讓路。

When I was nine years old living in a small town in North Carolina I found an ad for selling greeting cards in the back of a children’s magazine. I thought to myself I can do this. I begged my mother to let me send for the kit.

Two weeks later when the kit arrived， I ripped off the brown paper wrapper[包裝材料]， grabbed the cards and dashed from the house.

Three hours later， I returned home with no card and a pocket full of money proclaiming[宣告，公布，聲明]，“Mama， all the people couldn’t wait to buy my cards！” A sales person was born. When I was twelve years old， my father took me to see Zig Ziegler. I remember sitting in that dark auditorium[觀眾席，聽眾席]listening to Mr. Ziegler raise everyone’s spirits up to the ceiling. I left there feeling like I could do anything.

When we got to the car， I turned to my father and said，“Dad， I want to make people feel like that.”

My father asked me what I meant.

“I want to be a motivational speaker just like Mr. Ziegler，” I replied. A dream was born. Recently， I began pursuing my dream of motivating others. After a four-year relationship with a major fortune 100 company beginning as a sales trainer and ending as a regional sales manager， I left the company at the height of my career. Many people were astounded that I would leave after earning a six-figure income. And they asked why I would risk everything for a dream.

I made my decision to start my own company and leave my secure position after attending a regional sales meeting. The vice-president of our company delivered a speech that changed my life. He asked us， “If a genie[神怪]would grant[同意給予或答應(yīng)所求]you three wishes， what would they be？” After giving us a moment to write down the three wishes， he then asked us， “Why do you need a genie？” I would never forget the empowerment I felt at that moment. I realized that everything I had accomplished， the graduate degree， the successful sales career， speaking engagements， training and managing for a fortune 100 company had prepared me for this moment.

I was ready and did not need a genie’s help to become a motivational speaker. When I tearfully told my boss my plans this incredible leader whom I respect so much replied， “Proceed with reckless [不考慮后果的，不顧危險(xiǎn)的] abandon and you will be successful.”

Having made that decision， I was immediately tested. One week after I gave notice[辭職報(bào)告]， my husband was laid off from his job.

We had recently bought a new home and needed both incomes to make the monthly mortgage payment and now we were done to no income. It was tempting to turn back to my former company， knowing they wanted me to stay but I was certain that if I went back， I would never leave. I decided I still wanted to move forward rather than end up with a mouth full of “if only” later on. A motivational speaker was born. When I held fast to my dream， even during the tough times， the miracles really began to happen.

In a short time period my husband found a better job. We didn’t miss a mortgage payment. And I was able to book several speaking engagements with new clients. I discovered the incredible power of dreams.

I loved my old job， my peers and the company I left， but it was time to get on with my dream. To celebrate my success I had a local artist paint my new office as a garden. At the top of one wall she stenciled[用墨板或蠟紙印刷圖案文字等]， “The world always makes way for the dreamer.”

我9歲的時(shí)候，住在北卡羅萊納州北部的一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)上，我在一本兒童雜志的背面發(fā)現(xiàn)了一則賣賀卡的廣告。我心里想我可以做這件事。我請(qǐng)求媽媽讓我要書店寄一套來。

兩周過后，我拿到賀卡了，撕掉棕色的包裝紙，抓起賀卡沖出了家門。

三小時(shí)后，我回到家里，一張賀卡都沒剩下，我?guī)е鴿M口袋的錢宣布：“媽媽，所有的人都迫不及待地要買我的賀卡！”一個(gè)銷售人才就這樣誕生了。我12歲的時(shí)候，爸爸帶我去聽齊格勒的演講。我記得坐在黑壓壓的觀眾席上，聽到齊格勒先生使每個(gè)人都情緒激昂，房子都要爆炸了一樣。我離開那里時(shí)，感覺好像我可以做任何事情。

當(dāng)我們上了車，我轉(zhuǎn)過身對(duì)爸爸說：“爸爸，我也想使人們有那樣的感覺?！?/p>

我爸爸問我是什么意思。

“我想做一個(gè)像齊格勒先生一樣能鼓動(dòng)人心的演講家，”我回答。一個(gè)夢(mèng)想出現(xiàn)了。近來，我開始追求鼓動(dòng)人的夢(mèng)想。我在一個(gè)進(jìn)入財(cái)富一百?gòu)?qiáng)的大公司開始做銷售培訓(xùn)員，后來做到地區(qū)銷售經(jīng)理，我在那里工作4年后，在職業(yè)生涯處于頂峰時(shí)我離開了。我竟然在得到6位數(shù)的收入后離開了，這使許多人感到驚奇，他們問為什么我要為一個(gè)夢(mèng)想冒犧牲一切的危險(xiǎn)。

在參加了一個(gè)地區(qū)銷售會(huì)議之后，我決定離開穩(wěn)定的職位去開創(chuàng)屬于我自己的公司。我們公司的副董事長(zhǎng)做了一個(gè)演講，改變了我的一生。他問我們：“如果有個(gè)精靈答應(yīng)幫助你實(shí)現(xiàn)三個(gè)愿望，你要實(shí)現(xiàn)什么愿望？”讓我們寫下這三個(gè)愿望之后，他問我們：“你們?yōu)槭裁葱枰`呢？”我永遠(yuǎn)也忘不了那時(shí)那刻我所感受到的鼓舞。我意識(shí)到我所完成的每件事：大學(xué)畢業(yè)生學(xué)位，成功的銷售生涯，從事演講工作，在一個(gè)進(jìn)入財(cái)富一百?gòu)?qiáng)的公司里做培訓(xùn)和管理，都為這個(gè)時(shí)刻作好了準(zhǔn)備。

我已具備條件，無需精靈的幫助就可成為一名鼓動(dòng)演講者了。當(dāng)我含著淚把我的計(jì)劃告訴老板時(shí)，這個(gè)我十分崇敬、不可思議的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)說：“甩開膀子往前闖，你會(huì)成功的。”

做了那個(gè)決定后，我很快受到了考驗(yàn)。我交辭職報(bào)告一周后，丈夫就下崗了。

我們最近剛買了一套新房，需要我們倆每月的收入來還按揭貸款，現(xiàn)在我們卻弄到?jīng)]收入了?；氐揭郧肮镜恼T惑力很大，我知道他們想讓我留下來，但是我十分清楚如果我回去了，我就永遠(yuǎn)也離不開了。我決定我仍然要繼續(xù)前進(jìn)，而不是以后張口閉口都說“要是……該多好”來結(jié)束我的夢(mèng)想。一個(gè)鼓動(dòng)演講家誕生了。當(dāng)我甚至在最艱難的時(shí)期，緊抱我的夢(mèng)想時(shí)，奇跡真的發(fā)生了。

在很短的時(shí)間內(nèi)，我丈夫找到了一份更好的工作。我們沒耽誤還按揭貸款。我也可以和新客戶簽幾個(gè)演講協(xié)議。我發(fā)現(xiàn)了夢(mèng)想神奇的力量。

我熱愛我以前的工作，我的同事以及我離開的那家公司，但是到了該追求我自己的夢(mèng)想的時(shí)候了。為了慶祝我的成功，我讓一位本地的畫家把我的新辦公室用油漆畫成了花園的樣子。在一堵墻的頂部，她印上了這樣一句話： 世界總是為夢(mèng)想者讓路。